“God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.” -Voltaire

Baltimore natives Gloria Garrett and Tyrone Weedon celebrate life through art. They treat their subjects – as well as all of us who view their art – with tenderness. Particularly in this time of separation during the COVID-19 quarantine, Gloria offers her paintings as a support and a comfort: “Art is something beautiful to share. It helps other people and it helps me.” In this show, Tyrone – who made Gloria’s acquaintance and became a fan or her work a few years ago – created titles and captions for a selection of Gloria’s paintings, highlighting their shared passions of Baltimore history, African American history, and personal and family histories. Tyrone’s writings read like poems and essays, granting further richness to Gloria’s jubilant images in a joyful feedback loop. Some of Tyrone’s artworks on similar themes also follow Gloria’s pieces in sequence here. “The Gift of Living Well” can be viewed online at http://make-studio.org/the_gift_of_living_well.html through June 15th, 2020.

Gloria, the “Mother of Makeup Art”, works with lipstick, foundation, nail polish, eye shadow, and other household items to make her paintings. Gloria’s originals, prints, and handmade books are on sale at http://gloriasart.com/. Tyrone has been an artist at Make Studio since 2012 and often creates work in tribute to people he admires. You can find out more about him and his art via his Make Studio artist page.